Wine of the Week: Les Hauts de Janeil Syrah-Grenache
Wine: Les Hauts de Janeil Syrah-Grenache
Grapes: Syrah (50 percent), grenache (50 percent)
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, southern France
Vintage: 2008
Price: $6.99
Availability: Lee’s Discount Liquor
In the glass: Les Hauts de Janeil wine is pitch black and without question one of the densest cores of any wine this year, going out into a dark-purplish rim definition with high viscosity.
On the nose: It has a range of big brawny, earth-driven scents immediately emanating from the bowl of the glass, with freshly baked blueberry pie, vanilla scones and black cherry puree up front with peppery black cherry juice, underlying touches of violets in bloom, candied currants and hints of sweet spices, black and white pepper, then some aged wood.
On the palate: It coats the tongue with the intensity of a full-bodied black fruit soup with oodles of black cherries, sweet brambleberries, blackberry sorbet, cranberry sauce and jammy rustic character that mingles with soft tannins that are in turn interlaced with structured fruit in balance and then a layer of acidity. The midpalate is pretty intense with deep crushed peppery fruit, and the finish is superbly pleasant and lingering with a dash of black pepper, licorice root and phenols.
Odds and ends: Francois Lurton is the man behind the attractive brand of everyday muscular wines and he is someone who knows how to craft wines people really love to drink. A member of the vast Bordeaux Lurton family, which has a hand in at least 50 Chateaux from the top to the bottom of the “food chain,” he branched out early and went to Argentina where, together with his brother Jacques, they created a superb value brand called J&F Lurton. I wrote up a couple of their wines a long time ago, and then this Les Hauts de Janeil popped up in a tasting. Now fully mature and ready to drink, this wine is from the excellent 2008 vintage and hails from an area close to the border with Spain, in the very south of France, where arguably some of the most powerful wines that also happen to be easy on the wallet, come from. It is a perfect match for any kind of meat on the outdoor grill this season, but still has the stamina to go into the fall, where it will do well with heavier-type food, so it is quite versatile. Drink it now through 2015, but buy it now because this 2008 vintage is apparently a one-off lucky deal available in the market until sold out.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.
